Fighting for the lives of two fragile newborn babies

(Baonghean.vn) - For nearly a month now, the Obstetrics Department of Nghe An General Hospital has been trying to save the lives of two premature babies weighing 1.1 kg, who have stopped breathing one after another.

Although born from two different mothers, the babies all had the same difficult birth experience because they were too fragile and often faced a high risk of death. These little creatures grew up in incubators every day with the hope and anxiety of their mothers and the doctors who treated them.

In mid-July, Nghe An General Hospital assisted in the delivery of two premature mothers. The baby girl of mother Ngan Thi Bay (residing in Quy Hop district) and the baby boy of Nguyen Thi Duc (residing in Dien Chau district) were both born prematurely at 28 weeks of pregnancy, weighing 1.1kg and 1.2kg respectively. Their health was poor, and they continued to deteriorate after birth due to respiratory failure.

Doctors take care of a premature baby boy in an incubator.

As soon as they were born, the babies cried weakly, were cyanotic, and had weak newborn reflexes. The obstetrician prescribed nCpap for the babies, monitored their general condition via a monitor, and fed them exclusively through the umbilical vein in the first few days. After a while, the two babies were placed on a nasogastric tube and fed breast milk by drip with an electric syringe 24/7.

During nearly a month of treatment, the two babies had many episodes of apnea in newborns, constantly threatening their lives, because they were too young and weak, and their resistance was still very low. At one point, the babies lost weight to only 800g. The babies were so small that it was extremely difficult to take the veins. But we thought "There is life, there is hope", trying to use every method to save the babies", Dr. Pham Thi Thanh Thuy shared.

By August 12, the babies were breathing well without oxygen support, feeding themselves and were being trained to eat breast milk, their digestive systems were absorbing milk. Each time the babies drank 10 - 20 ml. The baby boy of the German mother had regained his weight as at birth, reaching 1.2 kg.

Medical staff instruct pregnant woman Bay on how to use the Kangaroo method to raise her baby.

Hoang Yen